1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to photographic cassettes, and more particularly to an improved photographic cassette, such as an x-ray film sheet cassette.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,063 discloses a photographic cassette having one end wall provided with an entry slot through which a film sheet is moveable along an inlet path. The cassette is provided with an elongate rectangular light shield having a lip along a front edge thereof nestable in a groove to prevent light from entering the entry slot of the cassette. The light shield has a shoulder at each end extending into a channel and into the path of a ramp, and a leaf spring extending from each shoulder rearwardly of the front edge onto a support member for biasing the lip into light-tight engagement with the groove.
When a cassette of the type described above is subjected to an external force to its weight-bearing front cover wall, such as the force produced by a portion of a patients anatomy, the cover and intersifter screen become bowed. Also, the light shield becomes bowed resulting in some cases light leakage progressively outward from the center of the shield toward its ends. It is an object of the present invention to provide the light shield with more flexibility toward its ends to prevent such light leakage when the cassette is subjected to such abnormal forces.